Just a little heads up, English is not my mother-tongue and I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. Also, Spoiler Alarm, for those of you who didn't see the finale.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Agents of Shield.

Imagine that you would have to wear a mask every day. You would not be able to take it off, under no circumstance. Day in, day out you must pretend to be somebody else and hide your real self behind said mask.

Why would you do such a thing you ask?

Well, first of all, to gain information. Information that was necessary to help the one person who made you the man you are today. Who helped you out of your miserable life and showed you a way to get by without anyone's help.

After your horrible childhood, you would look up to this man, considering him as your mentor who would joke around with you and who would helped you out, if everything seemed to falter.

And that despite the fact that he had told you when you first met him that you should under no circumstance trust anybody. Especially him.

But you would anyways. You told yourself that you would always be grateful for the things he had done for you and that you would stand at his side, no matter what. You adored this man, who seemed to fascinate and scare everyone at the same time.

What would you do, if this incredible kind of a man had died and now you had no idea what to do with your life?

Agent Grant Ward asked himself the same question as he was brought back to a highly classified facility, where he would spend many, many years behind bars, if he didn't decide to flee right now.

But where would you head, if there was nowhere and nobody to go to?

What would you do with your life that you have solely dedicated to a man who was never coming back?

You never even thought that you could have made a mistake in standing at this man's side all along. It didn't even cross your mind that your mentor himself, would be at fault with his visions and perceptions of life.

You had found friends throughout your mission to gain information, but you betrayed them all. You threw them in the ocean, because he had ordered you to kill them. And you were glad that you wouldn't have to actually see them die, when you saw the container in which they found themselves in, splash into the ocean. You wouldn't have been strong enough to actually see the light fade from their eyes, you knew that. .

Then there was this woman who you fell for. She hadn't been part of the plan, but your mentor had assured you that she would experience no harm. Then he had ordered somebody to shoot her in the stomach. And even then, you would share his views, angrily and hurt, but you would not leave his side. Because you had promised yourself years ago, that you would never fail to show your gratitude to the only person who seemed to care for you at your darkest moments. And Moreover, this man knew the real person behind the mask and he still stayed at your side. So you would, too. And you would not break this promise.

But why you ask me now?

Well that is a great question and the answer, I'm afraid, is nothing but simple.

I believe that deep down it would be too embarrassing for you to admit that you believed in the wrong man for far too long. Because if you would, all the things you had done for him would suddenly appear in an unfavorable light, wouldn't they? These favors made you the person you are today and if you stopped thinking that they were carried out with the right motives, the outcome would be humiliating.

You would not be someone who kept his promises and stood by his mentor to thank him for saving you from hell.

You would be a murderer and a traitor.

And you clearly had the chance to change course. You could have helped your team, but you didn't. Because they only knew the guy with a mask, not the person behind it. You cared for them, but they reciprocated these feelings for a fake identity. Not for the real you.

But after all this time pretending, do you even know who this "real you" is?

There is only one chance for you. You would have to decide if you'd rather run or be put behind bars in this very moment. So I ask you, would you take this opportunity to restart? Would you be able to overcome your mistakes? Would you?

You murderer. You traitor.

What now?

Thank you for reading! And please tell me if you liked it or not, because how am I ever going to improve if someone doesn't point out my mistakes :)

This story had been inspired by the book: "A spy among friends – Kim Philby and the great betrayal" from Ben Macintyre. A true story about a secret soviet spy, who (as the title kind of already tells) betrayed his lifelong friend in using him to get to know information that he would pass on to the USSR. Philby (the double agent) was a very mysterious man, who never seemed to fully open up to anybody. Nobody ever knew the real Mr. Philby, because there seemed to be different versions of him. And one only got to know one of them.

He had been given a second chance, but he still placed his commitment to communism over his friendship. (that he did cherish, nevertheless)

After reading this book, I just had to write this.

I'm not sure if I'll leave this as a one-shot or if I'll decide to make a story out of this so I marked it as "incomplete".